The Big Switch Off
The next few years are going to be pretty eventful in the world of telephony and businesses need to make sure they’re ready. Those that don’t will face several challenges and will almost certainly lose out to those who plan ahead now.
What’s happening?
By far the biggest change which will affect thousands of businesses is the planned switch off of the public phone system and ISDN lines.
Scheduled for 2025, we’ll be saying goodbye to the days of traditional telephony and the good old landline.
2025 might seem a long way off, but in fact the switch off has started already. BT, for example, has stopped selling new ISDN lines in some areas, and by 2023 they’ll have stopped selling them everywhere.
Even before then Vodaphone will be retiring their 3G network next year with EE set to follow suit in 2025 and the rest soon after. This will render non-4G and 5G mobile handsets virtually useless.
What will the impact be?
With no Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or ISDN lines companies that don’t move to replace them now could be left with no phones and no internet connection at all. This is likely to affect smaller businesses more but plenty of medium to large companies will be affected too.
The loss of the 3G mobile network will probably have less of an impact. Neverthless, BT estimate some two to three million people are still using 3G handsets, many of them mobile workers such as drivers and sales teams. They’ll find themselves cut off from the office once the network is retired. Not a situation they nor you want to be in!
Solutions?
Fortunately, the ‘fixes’ are not complicated and not costly – not yet anyway.
If you do have any staff – or even yourself – still using 3G handsets Keeley Travis can assist in upgrading you to 4G or 5G enabled hardware and can save you money on your business mobile contracts too as part of the deal. Whichever way you prefer to go, we can help.
As a BT approved reseller, we also have several options for replacing your landline and ISDN connections with fibre and VOIP technology, many of them very affordable and, importantly, with minimal disruption to your business.
What IS clear is that you need to act now to ensure you’re ready for the Big Switch Off – and we are ideally placed to help you do it. Give us a call.
